Business Licensing & Operations in Indiana (2026)

In unincorporated Dearborn County, Indiana, no sexually oriented business can operate without a county permit for its…

In the City of Greenwood, Indiana, an adult entertainment business needs a separate $500 license from the Chief of…

In the City of Bloomington, a sexually oriented business cannot locate within five hundred feet of a place of worship…

Boone County Code § 157.182 bars any adult entertainment business from locating within 1,000 feet of another such…

Clark County requires separate $5,000 owner and operator licenses, issued by an Adult Entertainment Commission, before…

Chapter 9.30 of the Columbus Municipal Code bars any sexually oriented business in the City of Columbus, Indiana from…

Adult arcades, bookstores, cabarets and theaters are confined to Evansville's C-4, M-1, M-2 and M-3 zones and must sit…

In unincorporated Floyd County, no one may operate a sexually oriented business, or employ someone in one, without a…

Fort Wayne requires a Police Chief-issued license before operating a sexually oriented business, plus a separate…

A sexually oriented business in the City of Gary cannot open before 10:00 a.m. or stay open past 11:00 p.m., and it…

In the City of Hammond, Indiana, no one may operate an adult entertainment business without a license from the City…

Operating an adult entertainment business in Indianapolis without a license from the license administrator is unlawful…

LaPorte County requires a sexually oriented business license before anyone may operate that kind of business, and a…

In the City of Muncie, Sec. 150.28 of the zoning code bars a new adult entertainment business from locating within 500…

The City of Noblesville licenses every sexually oriented business under Chapter 120, from adult cabarets and media…

Porter County requires an Improvement Location Permit before any sexually oriented business opens, and UDO § 5.44 SX-01…

South Bend requires every adult business, from bookstores to viewing-booth arcades, to hold a $500 annual license…

Any sexually oriented business in unincorporated St. Joseph County needs a county auditor permit before opening, backed…

Tippecanoe County bars any adult entertainment business from locating within 500 feet of another adult entertainment…

Adult bookstores, cabarets, theaters, arcades, nude model studios and peep show facilities are zoned Use Group 21 in…

Boone County, Indiana requires anyone operating a massage school, massage parlor, massage therapy clinic or bath house…

Clark County zones massage parlors as adult entertainment: they are allowed only in the M1, M2 and M3 industrial…

Massage businesses in the City of Columbus, Indiana need a city permit approved by the Board of Public Works and…

Fort Wayne requires a $250/year Board of Public Safety permit to operate a massage establishment, plus a $25/year…

A massage establishment in the City of Gary cannot operate at all without a license from the city controller, and it…

In the City of Greenwood, Indiana, no one may operate a massage establishment without a Police Department permit…

Hammond Code of Ordinances § 120.10 requires a City Controller license, approved by the city's administrative official…

Kokomo requires a Police Department permit, approved by the Director of Public Health, before any massage establishment…

In the City of Muncie, operating a massage establishment or working as a massage therapist or employee requires a…

Operating a massage business in South Bend requires a $200 annual establishment license from the Board of Public…

Anyone who operates a massage establishment or practices massage therapy in St. Joseph County, Indiana needs a license…

Tippecanoe County's zoning code lists 'massage establishments (parlors)' (SIC 7299) under its Adult Entertainment…

Vanderburgh County requires every massage business, called a "health club" in the code, to hold a Sheriff-issued permit…

Evansville requires a Safety Board-issued massage therapy license before anyone may perform massage for a fee…

Operating, conducting, or maintaining a massage establishment in Indianapolis without a license from the license…

Noblesville does not issue its own massage establishment license. Chapter 113 of the Noblesville Code of Ordinances…

Tattoo artists and body piercers in Bartholomew County need a separate artist license and facility permit from the…

Boone County, Indiana regulates every business that tattoos, pierces or otherwise modifies the body in unincorporated…

Evansville tattoo and body-piercing businesses need an annual Vanderburgh County Health Department permit; operators…

Hamilton County requires an annual license from the Health Department to operate a body art establishment or work as a…

In the City of Hammond, Indiana, no shop may tattoo or pierce skin without an establishment license, and no artist or…

Tattoo, piercing, and body modification shops in unincorporated Hendricks County need an annual Health Officer permit…

LaPorte County requires a Health Officer permit for every tattoo or body piercing facility, including mobile…

Tattoo and body-piercing businesses in unincorporated Morgan County, Indiana must hold an annual Health Department…

Porter County requires every tattoo and body piercing facility to hold an annual permit from the county health officer…

Anyone operating a tattoo, body piercing, branding or scarifying business in South Bend needs a City license before…

Anyone who tattoos or pierces bodies for pay in unincorporated St. Joseph County, and any facility where the work…

In unincorporated Warrick County, Indiana, tattoo and body-piercing shops need a facility permit and each practitioner…

In unincorporated Floyd County, every tattoo parlor and body piercing facility must hold an annual permit from the…

Gary's Municipal Code doesn't license tattoo or body-piercing shops directly; Sec. 123-217(b)(1)g instead lists tattoo…

Howard County Code § 113.02 makes it unlawful to operate a tattoo facility, body piercing facility, or temporary tattoo…

Tattoo parlors are a permitted commercial zoning use in Indianapolis-Marion County, but they must sit specific…

Tippecanoe County requires every tattoo, piercing, or body art shop in the unincorporated county to hold a Health…

Every tattoo parlor and body piercing facility in Vanderburgh County needs a Health Department license, and every…

Indiana requires retailers to hold an Electronic Cigarette Retailer Certificate to sell vapor products, complying with…

A bar that wants to let customers smoke cigars or hookah tobacco on-site must first qualify as a licensed 'tobacco…

Evansville secondhand merchants must be licensed, report every purchase to police by noon the next day, and hold items…

In the City of Gary, Municipal Code § 32-70(b) makes it unlawful to operate as a junk dealer, buying, selling or…

In the City of Greenwood, Indiana, anyone engaged in buying, selling, trading, or otherwise acquiring used goods and…

Anyone who operates a junkyard or otherwise conducts business as a junk dealer inside the City of Noblesville needs a…

Running a secondhand store in unincorporated St. Joseph County requires a license from the county auditor, granted only…

Anyone buying used gold, silver, platinum, or other precious metals and gems in unincorporated Warrick County, Indiana…

Anyone who buys, sells or trades used goods for business purposes in the City of Bloomington must first get a license…

Elkhart County requires every precious metal dealer operating in the unincorporated area to register with the County…

Fishers requires anyone who owns or operates a secondhand entity, including pawnshops, junk dealers, scrap yards, and…

Fort Wayne requires secondhand dealers to report every purchase, sale, and exchange to the Police Department daily…

Hammond Code of Ordinances § 118.35 requires a City Controller license before buying or selling secondhand coins…

Junk shops, junk yards, auto wreckers, and other salvage or scrap metal dealers in Indianapolis must hold an annual…

Lafayette requires anyone selling secondhand wearing apparel or household furniture to disinfect the goods first, and…

LaPorte County treats secondhand retailers under the same Chapter 112 scheme as pawnshops and scrap dealers: no…

South Bend secondhand dealers need a $115 annual license from the City Controller after a Police Department background…

Anyone who owns or operates a secondhand entity in the City of Westfield, Indiana must register with the Westfield…

Evansville requires pawnbrokers to hold a City license backed by a $1,000 bond and to log and report every pawn…

In the City of Greenwood, Indiana, no one may operate as a Pawn Shop Dealer without a license from the City Controller…

Kokomo requires pawnbrokers, secondhand dealers, precious-metals dealers and valuable-metals dealers to hold a city…

Anyone doing pawnbroker business in Lafayette, Indiana needs a $50-a-year City Controller license, must keep an ink…

No one may own, operate, or engage in business as a pawnbroker or secondhand dealer inside the City of Noblesville…

St. Joseph County doesn't run its own pawnbroker license; that's a state function under Indiana law. Instead, the…

Anyone who wants to operate as a pawnbroker in the City of Bloomington must first get a license from the city…

Fort Wayne does not issue its own pawn shop license, but it requires daily transaction reporting to police and a…

Hammond Code of Ordinances § 118.20 requires a City Controller license before anyone runs a pawnbroker or cash-for-gold…

Anyone who wants to lend money against pledged personal property, or buy goods with an option to sell them back, must…

LaPorte County does not license pawnshops separately, but Chapter 112 forces every pawnbroker to log each pledge or…

Anyone conducting a pawnbroker business in the City of Muncie must first obtain a $50.00 annual "Pawnbroker License"…

Pawnbrokers in the City of Westfield, Indiana are "pawn dealers" under Sec. 17-84 of the city code: anyone who lends…

Boone County's zoning ordinance flatly excludes vehicle-related businesses from its home occupation allowance. Table 10…

Evansville, Indiana's closed list of permitted home occupations covers only named office and service professions - auto…

Gary's zoning code flatly excludes auto repair from the home occupations residents are allowed to run. Municipal Code §…

Greenwood's Unified Development Ordinance bars auto and vehicle repair, minor or major, as a home occupation citywide…

Indianapolis zoning allows a wide range of home occupations, but Sec. 743-306.L.16.d draws a hard line against running…

The county zoning ordinance's Appendix D use table, referenced by § 157.043, lists "Automobile repair, body shop, auto…

Noblesville's Unified Development Ordinance flatly prohibits vehicle and small-engine repair as a home occupation…

Porter County flatly excludes automobile, motor vehicle, or equipment painting and repair of any kind from the list of…

Fixing cars, other vehicles, lawn mowers, or large appliances for pay is banned as a home occupation anywhere in…

Tippecanoe County flatly prohibits vehicle repair as a home occupation. UZO § 5-5-4(b) names 'automobile, truck or…

Unincorporated Wayne County, Indiana's zoning ordinance flatly excludes vehicle repair from its list of home-based…

Hamilton County's code carves "automobile repair shop" status out of any business run from a residentially-classified…

In the City of Muncie, Muncie City Code § 150.222(C)(3) bars any home occupation from an accessory building or…

South Bend treats any location, including a home garage, that repairs or services vehicles for a fee as an automotive…

In the City of Bloomington, residents may repair a vehicle they own in their own parking area as long as no business is…

In the City of Bloomington, a towing company cannot perform a non-consensual tow, one requested by a parking lot owner…

In the City of Hammond, Indiana, § 72.012 of the Code of Ordinances puts the Hammond Board of Public Works and Safety…

Tow companies performing non-consensual tows starting in the city must hold a license from the division of construction…

A towing service that removes a vehicle under Vanderburgh County's abandoned vehicle chapter must staff a 24-hour…

In the City of Columbus, Indiana, an authorized towing service cannot charge more than $100 to tow or remove a vehicle…

Fishers caps police-ordered tow, storage, and lien fees and requires towing businesses to keep a Hamilton County…

Towing companies that contract with the City of Gary to remove vehicles at a police officer's order must carry…

In the City of Kokomo, when the city contracts with a towing company to remove abandoned vehicles, Kokomo Code of…

Lake County selects and contracts with towing companies through its Board of Commissioners, and only a company under a…

In the City of Muncie, towing companies that remove abandoned vehicles under city authority may not charge more than…

A South Bend company cannot tow, boot, or immobilize a vehicle from private property without an annual $125 vehicle…